Forging a Total Force: The Evolution of the Guard and Reserve

This book is different from the one I encouraged and authorized in 2011— different, but better. While serving as assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, preceded by service in the Marine Corps and its reserve, I had a keen awareness of the contributions the men and women of the National Guard and reserve had made since our country was attacked in September of 2001. I believed those contributions needed to be analyzed and recorded by trained historians. I worried that if they were not well preserved, they would not be adequately appreciated in the future.Taking that charter to heart, Jon Hoffman and Erin Mahan from the Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense found Forrest Marion to collaborate with Jon on the writing effort. This team has fought through many challenges to produce a work that not only describes the post-9/11 contributions of the reserve and Guard, but puts those contributions into the context to which they properly belong.Dr. Marion and Mr. Hoffman trace philosophical and political disagreements, challenges met and missed, opportunities seized and lost. They show us history that is complicated in some ways, but very simple in others. It is a story of cyclical repetition of attitudes and prejudices that have sometimes prevented the United States from taking maximum advantage of the potential of its force of citizen-warriors. I would describe this cycle as an example of a phenomenon called “lessons frequently observed, but seldom learned.”The authors do, however, capture the extent of Guard and reserve contributions during the first Gulf War and highlight some of the challenges they faced—challenges that would be addressed, if not completely resolved, in the succeeding decade. Read more